The Forming of a Family
by daily-chan
Summary: James and Sirius' first Christmas at Hogwarts is both memorable and eventful. Takes place in between chapter 9 and 10 of The Forming of a Legendary Friendship, but can be read separately without a problem. Rating is for safety
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason._

 _Summary: James and Sirius' first Christmas at Hogwarts is both memorable and eventful. Takes place in between chapter 9 and 10 of The Forming of a Legendary Friendship, but can be read separately without a problem._

 _Warnings:_ _Strong bromance, can't stomach boys being extremely close without it being sexual, then this is not the story for you and you should hit the return button._

 _This story is part of a series called A Bond of Family. If you are interested in reading the entire series, then the chronological order can be found on my profile._

 _ **Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story for me. I cannot thank you enough for all the patience you have with my grammar and the ideas I get through our conversations. I wouldn't have gotten where I am today without you, so thank you!**_

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Sirius trailed his fingers over the wall he was walking by, aimlessly wandering through the hallways.

"You look like the weight of the world is on your shoulders," despite the familiar voice, Sirius still tensed and dropped his hand.

"I…" finding himself unable to meet the Poltergeist's eyes, Sirius looked down at his hands. "I thought the corridor was deserted."

"I was invisible until I saw you, so you can never truly decide a corridor is empty on sight alone."

"I hadn't realised the ghosts here spend time invisible since no one is hunting them here," biting his lip, Sirius leaned against the wall as he turned to Peeves.

"Sometimes it is easier to move around when unseen. That little map of yours doesn't show us, then?"

"No, would it even be possible to include ghosts?" he didn't bother asking how Peeves knew about his map.

"Technically not since ghosts are not a part of the living world," Peeves admitted. "But there are ways to still detect when a ghost is present. Muggles have this thing that is called an electromagnetic field detector and it can detect the presence of a ghost to those trying to hunt us."

"Electromagnetic field?"

"Yes, it is something produced by electrically charged electrons and it affects the behaviour of other charged things in the vicinity of them," Peeves smiled. "It is a fairly difficult subject and I do not entirely know how to explain it in easy terms when I don't fully understand it myself, but that is what is basically responsible for the small electric shocks you humans sometimes get when touching metal or another person highly charged with electrons or even strong magic."

"And Muggles use that field to track down ghosts?" Sirius asked interested.

"They try and sometimes succeed. They also use atmospheric environment monitors or thermal-imaging cameras."

"Of course," Sirius realised. "Because the temperature changes when a ghost is in the vicinity and it's the main reason why the castle is cold despite the heating charms constantly in use around the castle. A thermal detector would be able to detect them in the Muggle world regardless if they are visible or not, simply because of the change in temperature."

"Yes," Peeves nodded, cocking his head a little to the side. "Where are you going with this?"

"If I can add a thermal charm to the map, it would be able to detect the ghosts regardless of their visibility. Which is also how I would be able to detect other people not related by blood, by using the same charm. I would only need to find a way to link the thermal signature to the kind of being detected, to determine if it's human, House-elf, ghost or an animal," Sirius looked up to Peeves. "You just gave me the answer to a question we have been pondering about."

"You are welcome," Peeves grinned momentarily before turning solemn again. "But I doubt that little problem is the reason you looked so gloomy. Care to tell me what is on your mind so that I can perhaps help you?"

Sirius dropped his gaze again. "I was thinking of doing something very wrong."

"And why would you do that?"

"Because I do not want to return to my relatives' house for Christmas," he swallowed as he answered honestly. He wasn't stupid enough to speak about Grimmauld Place to anyone; his parents threats always in his mind. But Peeves had already sworn himself to silence and he really was running out of time to think of something. "I signed up to remain at Hogwarts, but Mother is demanding my return for the holidays and I cannot refuse without a good enough reason."

"So what were you planning?" Peeves' black eyes darkened, clearly aware of just why he did not want to return.

"To get myself a bad enough punishment that I must remain here to serve detention," Sirius admitted. "But I don't know how to get one heavy enough that I would be kept here and not just serve it after returning. At least not without hurting someone in the process."

"That is a dilemma, indeed," Peeves mused, cocking his head to the side as if listening to something. "Yes, that could work."

"What could?" Sirius asked curiously, aware enough of the bond between the Poltergeist and the castle to know the two were communicating.

"It is strictly forbidden, on pain of heavy consequences, to cause destruction to the castle or anything on her property."

"I don't want to be expelled and causing destruction to the castle would still mean hurting her," Sirius pointed out.

"It depends on how big the damage is that is done," Peeves mused. "You could destroy the Whomping Wi-"

"No," Sirius cut him off. "That tree is the only thing keeping someone I care about safe when he is most vulnerable."

"Of course," Peeves nodded in agreement, falling silent momentarily as he went over their options.

"We could try and stage a confrontation with your relatives, one where yous will be forced to defend yourself but still cause damage to Hogwarts enough to warrant a detention requiring yous to remain here," Tiffy's soft voice made Sirius swirl around.

"Tiffy...how...just how many people are hiding in this corridor?" Sirius asked startled, though he knew Peeves would never have allowed anyone who could cause him trouble to come near undetected.

Tiffy came closer. "Tiffy did not mean to eavesdrop, but Tiffy could not help herself when she saw you two."

"I would have warned you if someone else but her would have approached," Peeves reassured him, confirming his belief. "And she does have a good idea there. It has happens often enough already that it will not be unbelievable and if we can rig the destruction caused to be just big enough to warrant an immediate detention, it will be enough to keep you here."

"That would still mean someone gets hurt," Sirius pointed out.

"Just some slimy Slytherin relatives who no doubt deserve it," Peeves waved his concern off.

"I don't care about them, I meant Hogwarts. It would mean hurting her."

"Hogwarts won't be minding if it means helping yous safely stay here for as long as yous can," Tiffy reached up to touch his hand.

"She knows you would never hurt her without a good reason," Peeves agreed with Tiffy, coming to hover before him again. "She will even help us lure them to the right location where the exact right amount of damage can be done."

"Us? I'm not about to let you follow me into trouble," Sirius protested even as both of his companions shook their heads fondly.

"And what makes you think we will be in trouble?" Peeves suddenly disappeared from view moments before Tiffy did as well and a smile crossed Sirius' lips.

"The two of you are sneaky."

"That is what we aim for," Peeves' voice crackled as both of them reappeared before him. "So, are you on board?"

Taking a deep breath, Sirius couldn't help a helpless smile from growing as dual mischievous grins met his gaze. "What do you have in mind?"

In the end, the plan was fairly easy and Hogwarts would lure a couple of his relatives she could to the agreed upon location where Sirius would just happen to wander alone; far enough away from curious eyes that no innocent bystander would get hurt but still close by enough that a teacher would come to investigate soon enough for no real trouble to arise.

Or at least that was the plan, but Sirius was fairly sure the castle would never have lured this particularly group to his location as he caught sight of Rosier, Avery, Mulciber, Wilkes and the younger Lestrange brother turning the corner into his direction.

"Sirius Black," Lestrange sneered, a cold huff of laughter escaping him as they stalked forward. "How splendidly nice to run into you here, all alone."

Sirius' heart hammered in his throat as those cold eyes stared him down. It were not Slytherins he had any desire to ever meet alone; all five of them strong and sadistic enough to be considered future followers of Voldemort on their own. He didn't think he would be able to hold his own against one of them, let alone all five at once as they were far too advanced for his current level of casting.

He felt Tiffy and Peeves shifting closer to him as they clearly realised things had not gone according to plan and their invisible presence gave him the courage he needed to untie his tongue.

"I cannot say the pleasure is mutual."

" _Reducto,"_ Avery clearly didn't want to waste any time in trying to harm him, but Sirius managed to throw up his shield in time to protect himself and his two invisible companions against the curse.

"Is it a good idea to engage this particular group?" Tiffy's soft squeaky voice was barely heard as several strong curses were cast his way, the shield faltering under the strong offensive magic being thrown at them and pain flared through Sirius' arms at the effort it took to keep it up. Curses were redirected into the wall behind them and it was pure luck that his shield protected all three of them from the debris breaking off of the wall behind them.

"I don't think they're giving me much choice," Sirius managed to push Tiffy to the side while at the same time duck himself to avoid a bone shattering curse as his shield shattered.

"We will just have to make do with what we have," the cutting curse send Sirius' way suddenly bended off to slam into the wall behind him as the Poltergeist clearly intercepted it, though Sirius couldn't prevent the debris shattering from the wall from cutting into his back without leaving him open for more curses sent his way. "Thought it would be wise to blow up the passage immediately."

"They aren't near the passage," Sirius only barely managed to block a dark purple curse and send a counter-curse in return that made one of the Slytherins yell in pain and go down.

"Forget the passage, blows up the wall," Tiffy squeaked, another curse Sirius hadn't been able to defend himself from bended around them as well to slam into the already abused wall and he could sense the little elf move further away from him to freely use her special brand of magic without risking to harm him in the process.

"That'll damage the castle!"

"Better her than yous!" Tiffy's voice left no room for argument and Sirius honestly couldn't argue with her logic.

A brush of urgent warmth washed over him as he aimed his wand at the wall closest to the attacking Slytherins. "I'm sorry."

A sharp pain shooting through his arm broke his focus as he was hit by a curse he hadn't seen coming and he instinctively tried to recast his shield from the oncoming curses he knew would hurt his companions as well.

The pain in his arm was by far outstripped by the sharp white hot pain in his abdomen; a magical backlash slamming into him with incredible force and taking his breath away as he was knocked off his feet.

A wall of debris and smoke rained down all around him; a deafening collision of breaking stone stunned him momentarily before a sudden coldness washed over him and caught him before he could hit the ground.

The coldness swirled him around to avoid still falling debris before setting him down far enough away from the clearly collapsing wall that it could no longer endanger him but a bad case of vertigo made him stumble and fall onto his behind.

The same solid icy feeling shielded him from most of the smoke invading his sinuses, but he still coughed harshly; having just enough sense of mind to use the inside of his robe to protect himself from inhaling even more while trying to blink away the dark spots in his vision.

Most of the wall on his side of the corridor had exploded and he was suddenly more than grateful that they had settled on an outer passage by the Courtyard for their plan as the Courtyard itself showed signs of damage while the outer wall was all but gone. At least it meant no one else had gotten hurt by the backfiring plan.

"Tiffy..." he managed to bring out between coughing, relief crashing into him as small but familiar hands patted his back to try and help him regain his breathing.

"Tiffy was far enough away from the blast to protect herself," the little elf reassured him, looking up to him with large blue eyes.

"What happened?"

"You cast a shield but instead of raising it to protect yourself, you hit the wall with it," Peeves explained, hovering in front of him protectively and as he let his dark eyes roam over Sirius worriedly, he knew the Poltergeist had been the one to protect him.

"My shield did this?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"From what I could feel, you absorbed the magic being thrown at you into the shield and used it to actually strengthen it up. Well, you can see the result of what happened when it hit the wall," Peeves indicated to the clearing smoke and gaping hole in the wall where pieces of stones were still breaking off as a result from the explosion.

"I don't remember doing that," Sirius admitted between coughing. "I was just trying to protect the two of you since I knew I wouldn't be able to block those curses."

"Almost killing yourself in the process," the worry in Tiffy's eyes increased as she suddenly tensed. "Peeves..."

"Go, I have him," at the Poltergeist's words, Tiffy disappeared from view and Sirius could sense she had vanished from his side moments before hurried footsteps crossed the corner.

"What on earth happened here?!" McGonagall's voice sounded shrill to Sirius' abused ears and he winced, unintentionally having tried to make himself smaller at the stern voice.

"They attacked him out of the blue," Peeves spoke up before Sirius could, though the Poltergeist didn't move from his protective stance.

Alarm rose in Sirius as that was not the agreed upon plan regardless of how messed up things had become, but another coughing fit prevented him from speaking up and he tensed when unfamiliar hands came to rest on his back and chest.

"Easy, you shouldn't move," Professor Flitwick's hands held him in place and he stopped his struggle as the same coldness settled onto his shoulder, letting him know Peeves hadn't left his side. "He inhaled a lot of smoke."

Blinking as McGonagall immediately strode over and knelt down before him, Sirius could only watch through his coughing as she examined him. "Where does it hurt, Mister Black?"

"I...," years of experiencing his parents' wrath had taught him to hide any pain he felt, to never let anyone notice something was wrong or give them the satisfaction of knowing they were having an effect. To have people clearly realise he had been hurt made Sirius clench up completely now, unable to disregard his default response. "I am fine."

"Nonsense, you are most definitely not fine," McGonagall reached out to his forehead, making Sirius tense back and she paused. "Did he hit his head?"

"No, I managed to catch him before he could hit the ground," Peeves denied. "The blood must have come either from the cuts or from his arm as he flung it up. They hit it with a curse right before the wall exploded."

"All right, so it is shock. Take him to the hospital wing, Filius. I will get the full story of what happened here after he's been examined by Poppy."

"And the others?"

Sirius let himself be helped up by both Peeves, shying away from Professor Flitwick's touch involuntarily as adults' touches never meant anything beyond pain. But the Professor seemed to take his flinch in stride and refrained from touching him again without comment, letting him regain his balance through Peeves' hold instead.

"I will deal with them," McGonagall's reply was short and apparently enough for Professor Flitwick as he began to direct him to the hospital wing. "Peeves, tell me what exactly happened here."

"I'm not leaving him," Peeves raised an eyebrow. "Any questions you have will have to wait until he has been looked after and I know he will be all right."

"I am fine, Peeves," Sirius tried to protest but the look in Peeves' eyes was enough to make him shut his mouth with an audible click again.

McGonagall looked ready to argue, but saw something in Peeves' eyes that made her back down and nod. "I'll come to the hospital wing as soon as I have sorted the others out."

Sirius was only vaguely aware that Professor Flitwick gave a reply as Peeves guided him to the hospital wing, the pain in his chest and the ringing in his ears overwhelming him from paying attention to what was happening around him until it disappeared suddenly and he could suddenly breathe properly again.

He looked up to see Madam Pomfrey stand in front of him, though her attention was on the Charms teacher beside him.

"His ribs are set and he should not have any lingering pain from the shattered arm if he rests it for two or three days," she was telling Professor Flitwick while fitting a sling around Sirius' now bandaged arm, making Sirius wonder how she had managed to touch him without him noticing. "But I would like to keep him for tonight, just in case."

"I am fine," Sirius repeated for what felt like the tenth time even though he was fairly sure he hadn't spoken on the way there. "I do not need to stay here."

"I will be the judge of that," Madam Pomfrey disagreed.

"I am not staying here," if there was one place he hated almost as much as Grimmauld Place, it would be a place of healing where his guarded secret could be discovered at any moment if he was not careful. Crossing his arms in an attempt to look stubborn, he used the movement to feel if his Rune was still activated and was relieved to find it was in place.

"You will not," Peeves' presence seemed to unnerve both Madam Pomfrey and Professor Flitwick a little, but Sirius was relieved the Poltergeist had remained at his side as a grounding presence.

Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth to argue but Professor Flitwick surprised them both by agreeing with Peeves. "If he stays in his dorm over the weekend, I think it might be wiser. We do not want him to be in here with the next group of patients you will receive if he doesn't have to be."

It had not even occurred to Sirius that the Slytherins who had attacked him might need medical attention, too, and he immediately vowed to himself to hit the books dealing with healing spells even more so than he already was.

He had absolutely no intention to ever be put into a situation where he would be locked in place with enemies and no way to escape. More so that for Remus' sake, he would need to learn as much about Healing as he could for his own. If he could learn enough to just heal any injury he received, he would never have to visit the hospital wing again and risk exposure.

"If I am cleared, then can I go?"

"One moment, we still need to know what exactly happened," Professor Flitwick paused as he seemed to take Sirius' skittish behaviour and misinterpret it as nerves to face his attackers. "On second thought, I can just as easily get that story on the way to your dorm."

Wanting to be long gone from the hospital wing before the teacher changed his mind, Sirius rose to his feet and ignored Madam Pomfrey's immediate protest.

"Will you be all right on your own, Siri?" Peeves spoke over her as he hovered in front of him, hands held out to steady him should he falter. But Sirius managed to hold his own weight and balance now that his head wasn't ringing any more.

"Yes," giving the Poltergeist a fleeting smile, Sirius reached out to place a hand on his biceps. "Thank you, for everything."

Peeves gave a single nod. "I will spread the word that you are all right."

Knowing the Poltergeist meant Tiffy, Sirius nodded relieved even as a pang of guilt washed over him at the trouble he had caused by his selfish desire. "I'm sorry."

"You are an idiot, Siri," Peeves suddenly reached out to pull him into an embrace and although Sirius automatically tensed at the contact, the Poltergeist ignored it as he whispered in his ear. "She is sorry she couldn't prevent that group from reaching you and knows you did not mean to harm her beyond the initial plan. I am also to wish you well and to tell you that she hopes you will be all right soon."

"I...thank you," Sirius swallowed back the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat when Peeves pulled back again.

"Are you ready?" Professor Flitwick looked curious about the interaction between them, but made no comment as he led the way to the doors, pulling Sirius to the side just in time as they suddenly opened and Mulciber and Wilkes entered.

They shot him a look of pure hatred as they were being pushed forth by a following McGonagall, the other three Slytherins floating behind her, unconscious.

She magically deposited the three onto beds and forced Mulciber and Wilkes towards Madam Pomfrey before turning to them. "Where are you going?"

"Why don't you wait just outside for a moment?" Professor Flitwick suggested and Sirius did as requested without comment.

"I am taking him to his dorm, there is no need to cause unneeded stress by having them all in one place when it is not needed," the words were said softly enough that most of the room probably couldn't hear them, but Sirius was used to trying to understand what was going on by eavesdropping from a distance and could hear them just fine.

"Did he tell you anything about what happened?"

"Not just yet. Did they?"

"They said he blew up the wall out of nowhere when he saw them, that they were unaware he was even there until it was too late."

Anger rushed through Sirius at the unfairness of it all as they were placing the blame on him. But he held his tongue as he had technically been there to start a fight to receive detention.

"Fancy that," Professor Flitwick said. "How odd then that Peeves said they hit him with a curse before the wall blew up and the last spells his wand cast were defensive."

Sirius hadn't even realised the Charms' teacher had taken it from him and he was relieved to find his wand in his pocket.

"I thought the same, but although their wands have all last cast offensive spells there was nothing that would have blown up the wall the way it has."

"Regardless of the outcome, I think we can be clear on who was the initiator here."

"Yes and I will make sure they are punished."

Sirius could feel McGonagall's gaze on him through the small opening of the door, but refused to look up at her and give away that he was listening in.

"What are his injuries?"

"Three broken ribs, multiple cuts and the bones in his right arm were shattered. He inhaled quite a bit of smoke but it seems Peeves managed to protect him from the worst of it. He got off extremely lucky."

"Extraordinary as from the debris on both his and Peeves' clothes I determined he had to have been much closer to the blast than the others."

"I will see if I can discover what he remembers," Professor Flitwick promised, giving McGonagall a final nod before making his way over to Sirius. "Ready?"

"Yes, Sir," pushing himself off the wall, Sirius followed him down the hall.

"So, do you think you could tell me what happened?"

"I blew up the wall, Sir," Sirius readily admitted. "I did not start the fight, but I did do that."

"How did you blow it up when your wand shows no offensive spells?" Professor Flitwick did not seem surprised by the admittance, only looked at him curiously.

"I am not quite sure, Sir," Sirius wasn't ready to tell anyone about his specialised shield just yet, especially not a teacher. It would lead to questions as to how he had developed it that he was not at all sure to answer and rather prevented to be asked at all.

"Shock and fear can do a lot to a person, especially when they are cornered."

"I was still the one who blew up the wall, Sir."

"Due to the circumstances, I think you can be forgiven for it."

"Nonetheless, I did blow it up," Sirius was not quite sure their plan was still salvageable, but he had to try or he had put Tiffy and Peeves in danger for nothing.

"I suppose a few points will be taken, but nothing serious," Professor Flitwick admitted.

"Should there not be consequences for me personally, Sir?"

"It almost sounds like you want to be punished for this," the Ravenclaw Head of House turned to him amused.

"Well, I should deserve detention for this, Sir."

"Let's imagine I agree with that, when exactly would you want to serve it? The Christmas holidays start in two days. Would you like to serve it before that, or after," Professor Flitwick's eyes met his. "Or perhaps during would be better."

His heart skipped a beat as the Professor stared at him for a long moment before seemingly come to a decision.

"Yes, I am afraid I will have to give you a detention, perhaps I will even have to let you serve two detentions depending on the injuries the other boys received. And because I am a very busy man with little time, your detentions will have to be taken when it suits me," Professor Flitwick said solemnly. "So you will have to remain here at the castle for the holidays as I am fairly sure you will have one detention before Christmas and the second probably after New Year."

"Sir?" staring at his teacher, Sirius was terrified of why the Charms teacher was going along with what he wanted. What had he seen in him that had made him change his mind so suddenly.

"No, I am sorry Sirius, but my mind cannot be changed. You will have to remain here at Hogwarts with Mister Potter and I will be sure to inform your parents that you absolutely must sit through those detentions for the damage you have caused to the castle," Professor Flitwick actually smiled and a wave of relief washed over Sirius as he realised the kind teacher thought he wanted to remain here to keep James company.

"Very well, Sir, if you are absolutely sure I cannot change your mind then I will just have to accept my punishment," managing to keep his expression straight, Sirius let the man believe he had figured him out. "I do not actually need a chaperone to get to the dorm, though, Sir."

"I am afraid I must insist on that as I am fairly sure a certain Poltergeist will make my life very difficult if I do not accompany you to Gryffindor Tower," the Charms' Professor smiled. "He seems to have taken a fair liking to you and if he was bad when Pandora was bullied, I dare not leave your side and provoke his ire with how protective he is of you."

Professor Flitwick looked remarkably calm, even though he did chuckle wryly. "But even if Peeves wouldn't retaliate for my lack of duty, I must still admit that I am much too terrified of all the pranks Mister Potter will target me with to let you travel alone."

"He wouldn't," Sirius couldn't hold back the small chuckle that escaped at the raised eyebrow. "Well, I'm fairly sure he wouldn't."

"I am not taking the chance. And since I have no desire to have Madam Pomfrey bristling down my neck either, I hope that you will rest that arm for the upcoming days as well as your body."

"I will, Sir," Sirius readily agreed, unwilling to return to the hospital wing.

"Good, then I will leave you in the hands of your friends as I'm fairly sure they will be worried about you," Professor Flitwick took in Sirius' form as they reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady.

"What happened to you?" The Fat Lady asked curiously.

"Slytherin trouble," Sirius replied, hesitating as he tried to remember the password. But the Fat Lady swung open without requesting it. "Are you allowed to do that without a password?"

"I just changed the password momentarily to Slytherin trouble, so you gave the correct answer," the Fat Lady winked at him, making Sirius smile.

"Right, a shower is allowed, but you should try not to move your arm during it," Professor Flitwick studiously ignored the open portrait technically breaking the rules.

"I won't, thank you Professor," making his way into the Common Room, Sirius gave a little wave before the Portrait closed again and he made his way to the dorm.

Being relieved his friends were not present yet; he showered and changed his clothes with some difficulties before returning to the bedroom, only to find Tiffy there.

"Are you all right?" He immediately hurried to her side and almost automatically reached out to her but managed to stop himself in time.

"Tiffy is fine, how is Sirius?"

"I'm all right. I'm sorry I put you in danger," he sat down on his bed.

"Yous did not, they did," she came to his side and placed a hand on his uninjured arm. "Tiffy is sorry the plan failed."

"It didn't, actually. Professor Flitwick gave me two detentions, one for before Christmas and one for after New Year," Sirius felt warmed by her outraged expression. "I pretty much asked for them, to be honest. He agreed because he thinks I want to remain here to keep James company."

"But Sirius' Jamsie is nots staying at Hogwarts, is he?"

"No, but I don't think the professor knew that," he shrugged. "It doesn't matter, though. The plan might have failed, but the end result was what was desired since neither you or Peeves were injured."

"Yous were, though," Tiffy pointed out.

"I can live with that," Sirius grinned. "I get to stay at Hogwarts during the Christmas Holidays."

"Tiffy is glad, though Tiffy does not like that Siri had to stay alone."

The warmth he had felt at her outrage on his behalf was nothing compared to what he felt at the nickname Tiffy was giving him, one he had noticed James use unconsciously sometimes since that first hug. The endearment did funny things to his stomach and made him feel like smiling any time he heard it come out of James' mouth and he found it was the same with the little House-elf and even Peeves, though he hadn't realised it at the time.

The little elf frowned at him, clearly confused at his sudden smile and tensed momentarily as she seemed to realise what she had said before looking down.

"Tiffy is sorry for the mistake."

"You can't take it back now," Sirius couldn't help but smile as blue eyes snapped up to him surprised.

Tiffy stared at him for a long moment before shaking her head fondly. "Only yous would react like that. Yous are very different from most wizards."

"I'm glad to be," finding the courage to slip off the bed and take both of the House-elf's hands in his, he smiled again. "I don't care about the nickname."

He hesitated, biting his lip as it was his turn to look down. "James uses it at times and Peeves did this afternoon. It...makes me feel happy when they do, when you do. It means I am your friend and I like that."

"Tiffy giving Sirius a nickname makes him happy?" Tiffy reached out to lift his chin, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Then Tiffy will happily refer to Siri as that from now on as Siri is Tiffy's friend and always will be."

"I'm glad," he swallowed thickly, gazing into earnest warm blue eyes and smiled as she caressed his cheek.

"So is Tiffy, but yous should get some rest now. Yous looks terribly pale."

Sirius didn't argue and let her shoo him underneath the covers, feeling grateful and warm as she insisted on tucking him in.

"Tiffy will wash and fix Siri's robes while yous sleep," she smiled at him as she retrieved the battered robes he had discarded into the empty bin. "And Tiffy will bring something to eats up to yous for dinner so yous can stay in bed."

"You don't have to do that for me," he protested tiredly, the events of the day rapidly catching up to him now that he was lying down.

She only smiled and returned to the bed to brush his fringe aside. "You are silly. Just sleep, my little Siri and call Tiffy if yous need anything."

"I promise, thank you Tif," he smiled through a hurriedly covered yawn, her broadening smile the last thing he saw before sleep claimed him.


	2. Chapter 2

A weight settling onto his bed woke Sirius up, but the presence he could sense beside him had become familiar enough by now to not startle him into a defensive mode immediately.

"Hey," opening his eyes, he found James leaning over him with worry plainly written all over his face.

"Hey yourself," James reached out to brush the hair out of his eyes and Sirius found himself leaning into the warm touch without consciously making the move."How are you feeling?"

"Better than I expected to," he answered truthfully as he reluctantly broke the point of contact between them to carefully push himself up into a sitting position, the movement not hurting as much as he had expected.

"So I gathered. I was on my way back from detention when I came across a disaster zone and heard gossip of you having had a confrontation with a few older Slytherins."

"The confrontation was partly my own fault," Sirius readily admitted.

"So Tiffy told me when I arrived back here," James looked torn between pulling him into a hug and yelling at him so Sirius reached out to take his hand and squeezed it.

"Tiffy stayed? How long have I been asleep?"

"She was; said she didn't want you to be alone. From what I've gathered, you have been asleep for a little over five hours," the worry in James' eyes didn't lessen at all. "You really should be in the hospital wing, you know?"

"I'm fine," he automatically answered.

"No, you are not," brown eyes scanned his face once more and Sirius suddenly wondered just how badly he looked. Madam Pomfrey had healed all of the cuts and he couldn't feel any pain, yet there had to be something left for James to look so worried. "But you are right in that it could have been much worse."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Why were you so desperate to remain at Hogwarts for Christmas in the first place to resort to a plan like that?"

"I just do not feel like returning to Grimmauld Place and listen to everyone talk about the war and how great Voldemort is," it was much harder to lie to those earnest warm brown eyes than it had been to anyone else ever looking at him like they suspected something was not quite right, but Sirius knew he had to as he couldn't let his friend discover anything about Grimmauld Place and his life there.

His parents would not care about who James was and he had already found that he would rather spend the rest of his life in the darkness of the punish room than letting anything happen to James.

The mere thought of harm coming to his friend terrified him far more than anything his parents had ever done to him and he had vowed to himself to never let James discover anything so he could keep him safe.

"Are you sure that's all?" James didn't really look convinced.

"I'm sure, James," he hoped that with time it would become easier to lie to James as right now he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his warm embrace, tell him everything he knew so that he could just hide from the world in the safety the other boy made him feel. But he knew he couldn't and settled for giving his friend something he hoped was a reassuring smile instead.

"Well, then I will just have to remain at Hogwarts as well to keep you company," James decided and as if sensing his thoughts, let go of his hand to push himself up to come sit next to him against the headboard.

Sirius stared at his friend in disbelief. "Your parents haven't seen you in months; you shouldn't stay here just to keep me company. I'll be fine on my own."

James waved his concern off. "Mum and Dad are going to all those annual meetings with distant relatives and meeting up with old colleagues of theirs. It will be a relief not to have to spend any time with all those boring people this year."

"But..." Sirius wasn't sure what to say to that, James looked sincere enough to actually mean his words.

"No buts, we are going to spend Christmas together at Hogwarts. There is so much we can do!" James grinned. "We can get a start on those defensive lessons we talked about earlier this month and hold snowball fights! Have you ever held a snow ball fight?"

"No," Sirius was a little disorientated by the beaming smile aimed at him, never having known anyone before meeting James who could be so overwhelmingly enthusiastic about pretty much everything. "There's no snow, though."

"It will come and then I can teach you how to hold a proper snowball fight. Oh! And we will have to go sledding and ice skating," James' smile dimmed slightly. "That is, if you would like that?"

A small hesitant smile crossed over Sirius' lips. "I would like to learn all of that if you are willing to teach me."

"Of course," James beamed. "If some snow falls before the holidays starts, we might even get Peter and Remus to join us."

James' enthusiasm was infective and even if all Sirius had ever associated snow with was unpleasant cold nights in the punishing room, he found himself wishing for the white substance to arrive so that they could spend some time doing the things his friend was so excited about.

"You are always so full of plans," without letting himself think about his actions, he shifted to be able to curl against James' side in a semi-embrace.

It surprised him sometimes, how quickly he had grown to care about the three boys he shared a dorm with; especially James had come to matter to him more than he had ever could have imagined anyone could.

And although it terrified him; just how quickly the other had passed all of his defences and had settled into his heart, he also found that he wouldn't want it any other way.

He relished in the warmth coming off of his friend as an arm was slung around his shoulder and he was gently pulled into James' side.

For no matter how scary these rapidly forming friendships were, this, being held close against that warm comforting presence was the warmest and safest he had ever felt and he always found that he never wanted it to end.

The promise and easy acceptance his friend gave him; the feeling that he was genuinely wanted made him dare to step away from everything he had ever been taught about interactions. Making him dare to believe that not all touch had to be painful or was aimed to harm; even seeking it out on occasion when wanting to feel safe. Something James certainly didn't discourage as he never even hesitated to pull him closer than was probably deemed decent by most but Sirius couldn't help but yearn for.

And as long as James didn't show any sign of discomfort at their near constant contact, Sirius wasn't going to complain and he shamelessly let himself sink into the affective nature of the warm presence James was.

"Are you in pain?" James brushed his thumb over the shoulder of Sirius' bandaged arm, careful not to actually come near the bandages.

"I…" Sirius was on the verge of giving his automatic response but found that he didn't want to hide or lie to James, not when he didn't absolutely have to, to keep him safe. "A little bit."

He couldn't prevent the sound of protest from escaping when James immediately tried to move; tangling his fingers into the fabric of James' pyjama shirt to try and keep him in place.

"I'm not going anywhere," James promised softly as he stilled immediately, brushing a hand over Sirius' cheek. "Just trying to get you into a more comfortable position as this cannot be comfortable for your ribs or arm."

"You are comfortable," the words slipped out before he could stop himself and tried to burrow further into his friend's warm side, embarrassed.

"You will be even more comfortable in a moment," panic erupted inside Sirius as his dark-haired companion shifted once more, but James' arm never left him as they shifted; letting him know he hadn't chased him off. At the movement a wave of protest coursed through Sirius' newly healed ribs but before it could overwhelm him, the lingering pain dulled again as James settled into a lying position and used the arm still around him to pull him closer again. "There, this has to be better, right?"

With Sirius humming in agreement, James smiled and tucked him deeper underneath the duvets on his bed.

"Where did the other duvet come from?" he murmured confused as he wiggled closer since James was more than a little warm and clearly didn't object to his clinging.

"My bed. I figured you might like some company right now and since you are always cold, could also use some extra warmth."

A wave of something he didn't quite recognise rushed through him, but it didn't scare him, instead making him feel warm and happy; reminded him a little of the feeling Tiffy tucking him in had done.

"Thanks."

"Any time," he could almost feel James' smile building as his friend caressed a thumb over his shoulder softly. "Do you want to try and sleep a little more?"

"I don't think I will have much of a choice," Sirius hummed, already feeling sleep tugging at the corners of his awareness again.

"Would you like me to read to you until you fall back asleep?"

"Isn't that something people only do for little children?" Sirius hadn't ever read anything about older people reading to each other in the various books he had managed to get his hands on at his relatives' houses, but he was aware that wasn't saying much.

"Usually, yes," James admitted honestly. "But I'm fairly sure your parents have never done so, nor has anyone else."

There was something dark in James' voice that felt a lot like anger, but Sirius could sense it wasn't directed at him as James' hold on him tightened a little and although he wondered why his friend seemed to harbour anger for his parents, he decided not to ask.

"No."

"Figures. Then I will be the first to do so and you can decide for yourself if you like it or not," reaching out to the book on Sirius' nightstand while trying not to dislodge him, James just managed to pull it close enough with the tips of his fingers to grab it. "What are you reading?"

"Bambi, a Life in the Woods. It is a story about a fawn growing up."

"Sounds like something you would like," James smiled as he looked at the yellowish brown cover portraying two deer at the top. "Is this the book Remus talked about after we discussed our favourite animals?"

"Yes and if I like this one, then he'd have a sequel for me that is about Bambi's children."

"And do you like it?"

"So far it's nice. But I am only at the beginning of chapter two, so I don't know how the story continues."

"The beginning of a book is the most important. If it doesn't catch your attention immediately, it usually won't be something you'll enjoy," James advised him, using the hand not wrapped around Sirius to open the book to the page marker, letting it slide down. "Do you mind if I start at the beginning of the chapter?"

"Not at all," to make it easier for James to hold onto the book, Sirius shifted so that he was resting against his chest more than his shoulder.

It was a position that allowed James to fully put an arm around him and hold the book with both hands if he wanted to, but it also let Sirius faintly hear the other boy's heartbeat; something he found incredibly soothing and comforting.

From the first time James had held him like this after his nightmare, Sirius had found he rather liked this arrangement and from the steady slow beat beneath him and the readiness with which James pulled him close once more, he was fairly sure he didn't mind.

Letting James pull the duvet up a little to cover him up once more, he shifted his head to look up to him.

"Are you comfortable, too?"

James chuckled and pressed a kiss onto his forehead. "I'm perfectly comfortable, Siri. Just try to relax."

Giving him a smile, Sirius resettled while James picked up the book again, curling one arm around Sirius' waist and holding the book on eye height with the other.

It didn't seem like a very comfortable way to read, but Sirius figured he would change positions soon enough if it bothered him.

" _In early summer the trees stood still under the blue sky, held their limbs outstretched and received the direct rays of the sun. On the shrubs and bushes in the undergrowth, the flowers unfolded their red, white and yellow stars_ *¹"

Sirius was fairly certain people would say James was terrible at this as his tone of voice went all over the place and was not at all as soft and gentle as his books had always described people's voices to become when reading to children.

But he was hardly a child and as far as he was concerned anyone who would ever dare to tell James that he was a terrible reader would get hexed severely.

Because although his reading wasn't as gentle as he probably believed it to be, James' voice was one Sirius always thought to be pleasant and he found the combination of his voice and the vibrations underneath his cheek to be oddly soothing.

He wasn't quite sure when he had fallen asleep, but became aware of the fact when he began to register voices not belonging to James.

"But why would they just attack him?" Remus was clearly attempting to whisper, but failing miserably as Sirius could hear him quite clearly.

"They are a bunch of future Death Eaters, who knows why they do what they do," although James was no longer in bed with Sirius, clearly hadn't gone very far as his voice came from close by. "Point is that Flitwick gave him two detentions for what happened and he has to remain at Hogwarts during the holidays for it."

It surprised Sirius that James wasn't telling their friends the truth of why the attack had happened, knowing Tiffy had told him what had happened but he was grateful to not have to lie to them as well.

"That's so unfair!" Peter exclaimed. "Why is he being punished for something they started?"

"Aren't we always? He won't be alone, though. I'm staying here as well."

"Don't you want to see your parents?" Remus softly asked.

"They will be required to go to meetings and annual festivities that I've never liked. I was only going home because I thought all of you were leaving as well and didn't want to stay here alone. But now that Sirius is required to stay here, I have the perfect excuse to remain as well."

"It is still not fair, though," Peter huffed.

"Life rarely is," Sirius discovered that his initial belief of James not having gone far was actually very accurate, almost knocking the other boy off the edge of the bed as he shifted to push himself up and found the other was sitting directly beside him."Sorry."

"I see you are still a wild cat," James' comment reminded him of the last time he had knocked James off a bed and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Less violent this time," he shot back, earning dual confused gazes from their other two friends, though James only grinned.

"That's true, you look better."

"This is better looking?" Remus asked sceptical. "He's as pale as a sheet!"

"He's always pale," James shrugged and shifted to pick up a covered plate from the night-stand once Sirius was leaning comfortably against the headboard. "Tiffy dropped this off a few minutes ago, with a warning to behave."

"Of course she did," chuckling, Sirius accepted the plate and eyed the large amount hidden underneath the cover. "Have all of you eaten, yet?"

"We did," Remus and Peter said in unison even as James snatched a piece of meat from the overly full plate, Tiffy clearly having taken into account his reduced mobility when preparing the food as everything was cut into bite-ready pieces.

"I didn't," James said over Remus' immediate protest. "Tiffy warned me in advance that she would bring enough for two so that I could stay here with you."

"You didn't have to do that," frowning, Sirius placed the plate between them so James could easily reach it as well, the other boy producing two forks.

"Doesn't mean I didn't want to," James' easy grin was enough to kill any protests Sirius might have had and he accepted the fork held out to him to spear a piece of meat himself.

"Do either of you want any?"

"No, you are to eat at least half of this plate," James spoke before either of the others could say anything. "Tiffy's orders or she'll sick Peeves' disappointed look on you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, but I'm not really willing to find out either so you better start eating," James' grin was infectious and both Remus and Peter chuckled as Sirius did what he was told.

"We've had more than enough at dinner and Peter brought various snacks up when we heard about what happened," Remus reassured him. "Though I'm surprised you are not in the hospital wing."

"No reason to be, I'll be fine in no time," Sirius indicated his bandaged arm. "This is just Madam Pomfrey being overzealous. It doesn't hurt any more at all and I'm only leaving it on because I am not putting her above strapping me down if I don't."

"You would probably be right about that," Remus chuckled. "She is rather overprotective of her patients."

"How would you know that? You've never been to the hospital wing," James raised an eyebrow and as Remus paled, Sirius knew he had been referring to his own visits there every month so decided to help him out.

"Everyone knows that if you need Madam Pomfrey, you are doomed," he hoped he came over as nonchalant without looking guilty and clearly succeeded as James winced sympathetically.

"You escaped, though," Peter pointed out, timely drawing away attention from Remus' relieved expression.

"With Peeves' help and Professor Flitwick."

"I thought he was the one giving you detention?"

"He did. But as it will be with him personally, I'm not expecting anything too bad," at James' pointed look at the plate, he speared a piece of carrot onto his fork and bit into it.

"It better be easy, or he will have to deal with me," James' grumble reminded him of the Charms' teacher's words and he smiled.

"So what will you two be doing during your holidays?" he asked as he lightly bumped into James' shoulder, causing the other to immediately wrap an arm around him and though it wasn't what he had intended with the action, Sirius happily leaned into the touch as they listened to Peter as he wildly gestured what his plans were.

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A/N: ¹ Taken directly from Bambi, a Life in the Woods chapter 2.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I would like to address those who complained that James is acting too kindly for the bullying rich boy he was; I've never agreed with that notion. His mother Dorea (his parents will always be Dorea and Charlus to me) comes from the Blacks; a House filled with arrogant and rotten apples who bully others and look down upon them, why would she ever stand for her son turning out the same way? His parents would make sure he is down to earth and kind to others; regardless of where they are from...slimy snakes who deserve it aside. So to me, James has never been arrogant, badly spoiled or a bully and would instead stand up to those who do. Rowling pretty much tried to ruin his character alongside Sirius for me, but I cannot and will not believe a person so loved would ever have been a bully. So that is why James is the way he is in my stories; considerate and caring for others and very overprotective of his loved ones.

That said, Merry Christmas everyone!

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Waking up on Christmas morning, James beamed as he immediately spotted the pile of presents at the foot of his bed.

But his mother's rules were drilled into him deeply and instead of tearing into them, he turned to Sirius, only to find the boy already sitting up and staring at his own presents.

Worry immediately washed over him at the blank stare and he slipped out of bed to make his way over to the other, carefully reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder so not to startle him. "Sirius?"

The blankness immediately made place for a warm smile as he turned to him. "Morning."

"Morning," slipping onto the bed with him he automatically put an arm around him; pulling him into his side for a brief semi-embrace. "What are you staring at?"

Indicating to the presents, Sirius leaned into his side. "I was wondering what those were doing there."

James had noticed just how much Sirius craved the touch of another human being and had taken it upon himself to shower his friend in affection whenever he could get away with it. He was always happy to pull his friend into an embrace and hold him close and as always the contact seemed to relax him.

"Where else would your presents be?"

"Mine? Why would I get presents?"

"Because it is Christmas?" James wasn't sure why his friend looked so surprised, though he only now noticed the wand Sirius was holding tightly. "You've never gotten Christmas presents?"

"No."

"Ever?" James couldn't help but stare at his friend as Sirius' gaze found the presents again.

"No," the confirmation scandalised James, unable to apprehend never receiving any presents at all.

"What about birthday presents?"

"As the heir, Grandfather always gives me a book about magic on my birthday that I am to study that year and am tested on regularly."

There was so much wrong with that statement and a wave of disgust and anger rushed through James. How could any parent be that disgusting and cold?

"You have never gotten any other present?" He couldn't help but clarify, just to be sure he truly understood correctly.

"Uncle Alphard bought me my owl after I received my letter," Sirius looked at him utterly confused. "My relatives do not really believe in giving presents without a reason."

"So your brother Regulus doesn't receive presents either?"

"Not from the rest of the house, but Mother and Father always get him something on their travels and he usually picks out a few things on his birthday when they go out. But that's different."

"How is it different?" he wasn't quite sure he managed to keep the anger out of his voice completely, but Sirius gave no sign of having noticed as he shrugged.

"Grandfather gives us a reward in money if we do well on our tests and we can get extra by writing reports or learning extra spells. Regulus usually doesn't really do well on those, so he has less to spend than I do," Sirius truly didn't seem to see anything wrong with that arrangement and James wasn't quite sure how to make him see differently.

"Most of the Wizarding world works a little different," he finally decided on. "Most parents just give presents because they can and want to do so. Most commonly for birthday and Christmas."

"All right, but why do I have presents then?"

"From the looks at the similar wrappings between our presents and knowing our friends, I suspect the weirdly shaped one comes from Peter and the flat one is probably from Remus. I know I got you the dark purple one but I don't know who send the orange and light purple ones."

"You send me a gift? Why?"

It was rather heartbreaking to watch confusion and apprehensiveness flashing through those warm grey eyes, knowing his friend didn't understand the sentiment. "Because I wanted to."

"But why?"

"No reason. It's just something friends do for each other on special occasions such as Christmas and birthdays. It is kind of a tradition between friends."

"I...I didn't get anyone anything," Sirius swallowed.

"That's all right, it's not a requirement to return gifts," he wasn't quite sure why he had been so surprised by the workings of the Black family. If affection and praise were non-existing, then why would presents be familiar and he cursed himself for not thinking of this scenario as Sirius looked down guiltily.

The last thing he had wanted was for his friend to feel like an idiot or feel left out and he ranked his brain for anything to solve this.

"Do you have any money left from this term?"

"Yes, I have eight Galleons left and will receive ten more at the start of midterm."

It was a little more than James himself received from his parents at the start of each term, but he knew it was not unusual for most Pure-Blood Lords to give their Heirs enough money to show off their wealth to their peers. And while most used their money to buy sweets or order joke products from Zonko's, it seemed Sirius hadn't spent much of his allowance.

"If you want, we could go down to the shop and pick something out for them there?" He offered

"But they will know I didn't get them anything, won't they? Because the presents I might pick will still arrive much too late."

"Nah, it's been snowing since yesterday so we can just blame the weather on your owl being late. It's not unusual for young owls to get lost in the snow during their first winter so they won't ever know any better."

"I...but you know I didn't get anyone anything," the guilt in Sirius' eyes hadn't lessened as he looked down at his hands so James reached out to take it in his own, squeezing gently.

"I don't know what you are talking about, isn't my present waiting for me at the shop?"

A slow hesitant smile spread over Sirius' lips. "It's waiting to be picked up?"

"That's what I thought," James beamed. "Merry Christmas by the way."

"Merry Christmas," Sirius answered softly, blinking surprised at him as he slipped off the bed again. "Aren't you going to open your presents?"

"Later, Mum's always drilled it into me to only open one present before breakfast and since I want to open it together with you we better go pick my present up and send off the others."

"I...all right," the look of bewilderment that had fallen over Sirius was hilarious to see.

"Come on, chop chop. We've got things to do today!" he called back cheerfully, getting Sirius into motion as well and fifteen minutes later they were down at the shop.

"Morning boys. Forgotten your Christmas presents, have you?" Madam Pomfrey chuckled as she spotted them.

"Morning, something like that," Sirius shifted a little nervously. "Can we go in?"

"Of course, hurry up though, breakfast will be in an hour and you would not want to miss that."

"Yes, Madam," leading Sirius inside, James looked around at the rows of items he hadn't seen before. Where normally there were rows of parchment, quills, various potion ingredients and even catalogues for various shops in Hogsmeade; there were now also books, candy and exploding cards among other things. "Go pick things out then."

"I...what should I get them?" the question was barely above a whisper, uncertainly pouring out of Sirius as he looked around a little overwhelmed.

"Anything you want. I got both of them candy and some Zonko products but there is no guideline on this, you just get them what you would like to give them."

The uncertainty in Sirius' eyes didn't let up, but he did turn around to the shelves and began to walk through them; occasionally stopping to look at something more closely before he eventually came back with a few items.

"Found anything to your liking?"

"I think so," Sirius hesitated before nodding firmly, holding one item hidden underneath the others and James tactfully refrained from looking at it. "Yes."

"Would you like them wrapped up?" Madam Pomfrey asked kindly as Sirius paid for the presents.

"Yes?" Sirius glanced at James for confirmation, making him want to smile and cringe at the same time but he settled for simply nodding.

He studiously stared at the shelves above them as Madam Pomfrey asked Sirius if he wanted everything wrapped separately or together, resulting in some shuffling and although he was aware she was studying him curiously, he ignored her until Sirius slid the wrapped presents into his bag.

"Owlery?"

"Owlery," grinning, James reached out to take Sirius' hand and together they made their way there. "Would you like to borrow Oreo so they get it around the same time?"

"If he wouldn't mind flying through this weather?"

"From how much my owl seems to love you, I think he'd fly through lava if you asked."

"I would rather have that he didn't," Sirius smiled as the owls hooted in greeting upon their entering; his own screech owl immediately floating down to land onto his shoulder. "Hello Medea."

It was always a cute sight to see Sirius' little owl almost curl into his neck in greeting as she nipped at his earlobe affectively.

"Would you be willing to deliver this to Remus for me?" Sirius always spoke to the owls as if they were free to choose, not even thinking of ordering his owl to leave when she didn't want to; something James admired in him and the owls clearly appreciated it, too.

But Medea readily held out her claw, allowing Sirius to tie the present onto it without a problem. She nipped in his finger softly as he made no move to tie the other present on, hooting softly.

"I'm asking James' Oreo to deliver this, so you won't have to fly twice the distance in this weather," as he brushed his fingers over her feathers, she screeched.

James wasn't quite sure what to make of the sound, but Sirius smiled and Oreo suddenly came down; soaring over James' head to land onto Sirius' other shoulder and nipped his finger in greeting before holding out a claw as well.

"If you were anyone else, I would be feeling remarkably neglected by my own owl," James laughed as Sirius tied the other package on. "What is it with animals and you?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius opened the window, Oreo nipping at his ear gently as he was handed an owl treat before immediately flying off.

James watched in awe as Medea paused; hooting softly as she seemed to be able to sense to wait and Sirius brushed a hand over her soft chest feathers lovingly before leaning in to whisper something too low for James to catch. Only when he straightened again and leaned out of the window did she hoot one more time before she, too, flew off into the snow with an owl treat in her beak.

"Sorry, you were saying?"

"Hmm? Oh, don't think I haven't noticed that all the owls are always greeting you personally when we come up here," James accused good naturedly, not commenting on the owl's strange behaviour. "They don't greet me when I come up here alone."

"I like owls," Sirius simply smiled at James' raised eyebrow.

"It's not just owls, though," James descended the stairs again while Sirius tossed a handful of owl treats into the air, enough for those present, before following him down. "Cats like you very much, too. It's a good thing none of us are allergic."

"I don't know why animals seem to like me, they just do."

"I suppose it is a good thing you like them as well, then," retaking Sirius' hand once more, James smiled. "Breakfast?"

"We first need to stop by the dorm to pick up that first present," Sirius corrected him. "One before breakfast, right?"

"Right," beaming at his friend, James pulled him along and in no time had they returned to the dorm; where he surprisingly found a new present with very familiar wrappings waiting before his bed on top of the others.

"How..." looking back to where Sirius was picking up the dark purple present James had picked out for him, he only then realised his dark-haired friend had no longer been carrying any present. "Is that what you were whispering about to Medea?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, you must have simply overlooked it among those others," Sirius' grin pretty much ruined his attempted innocent look.

"Well played," he couldn't help but laugh as Sirius' grin widened; all signs of uncertainty gone. "Want to open our presents?"

"Just the one, right?" Sirius came over with his present in hand, bouncing a little as he dropped down onto James' bed.

"You're as bad as Mum is," complaining good naturedly, James tore into his present to reveal a fancy book full with defensive spells and their theory, a couple of sweets and a pack of exploding cards. "Wow, this will come in handy! Thank you."

"When my eye fell upon it, I thought it might," Sirius' smile was a little nervous, but James pretended not to notice and just pulled him into a hug.

"It will. Aren't you going to open your present?"

Sirius was a lot more careful opening his present and while James wanted nothing more than to urge him to hurry, he let him take his time and savoured the feeling of his present being the first his friend would see.

"James?" Surprised grey eyes looked up to him as he held the two books carefully.

"You did say you liked the book, so I figured why not get it for you to keep and the sequel while I was at it?" laughing as Sirius carefully placed the books onto the bed before tackling him in a hug, James readily returned it.

"I love it!"

"I hoped you would," James smiled. "You do have to loan them to me some time, though. If you love them so much, I just have to at least try them properly."

He didn't think the books would be something he would truly enjoy, but the brilliant smile on his friend's lips made him want to at least try.

"You know, you remind me of Bambi a little," Sirius teased as he pulled back and placed the books onto his night-stand carefully. "You have big brown eyes as well and are curious."

"Are you saying I have deer eyes?"

"Maybe...Bambi," a laugh startled out of Sirius as James tackled him, making them both tumble backwards onto Sirius' bed.

"Do I have to tickle you into making you take that back?" he threatened, making Sirius laugh.

"You can try, but I don't think I'm ticklish," Sirius' challenge wasn't one James could let slide but quickly found his friend was right.

"That's such a shame," he whined, letting himself fall down beside him.

"Does that mean I get to keep calling you Bambi?" Sirius' eyes sparkled mischievously as he teased him, making James grunt in mock annoyance.

"If you must," but he couldn't find it in himself to truly be annoyed by it when it made his friend laugh the way he was doing now. "I'll just have to find something to tease you back with."

Sirius hummed in agreement, shifting so that he was resting on his stomach and able to look at James easily. "Thank you."

"What for?" sensing the shift in mood, James shifted onto his side.

"Everything," the smile on Sirius' lips was as soft as his eyes were. "For being patient with me."

"Any time," reaching out to squeeze his hand, James smiled before clearing his throat. "But don't go thanking me just yet, we haven't ice skated yet."

"Peter seemed to be fairly convinced that it is very dangerous?" the inquiry in Sirius' voice wasn't matched with worry, though, and James simply grinned.

"Peter's a worry-wart; we'll just take it slow. Ice skating is just like dancing...do you know how to dance?"

Normally it would be a stupid question to ask, as all Pure-Bloods were taught how to do so at a young age. But the Blacks were proving to be even worse than he had always heard and he couldn't be sure this was something they would be normal in.

"Yes. Tuffy and Dinky taught me when I was little."

"House-elves, huh? That certainly explains a lot about your movements," James smiled at Sirius' confusion. "You walk very quietly and are quite agile, a bit like a House-elf."

"Dinky taught me how to walk, so that could be right," Sirius hummed. "But what does dancing have to do with ice skating?"

"Ice skating is pretty much dancing on special shoes and on ice," Sirius rose from the bed and held out a hand to pull him up as well, James eyed him curiously. "I reckon you'll be quite good at it, actually."

Grinning, he grabbed his friend's hand and allowed himself to be pulled up before suddenly twirling them around a few times, making Sirius laugh but move with him without argument. "Yup, your balance is great."

"Yours isn't so bad either. Do you like dancing?"

"Not really, I've always hated all those official balls Mum and Dad always took me to, too stiff."

"Formal ballroom dancing and just dancing because you can are two very different things," Sirius advised him. "I always loved dancing with Dinky and Tuffy, but never cared for it at gatherings. It's just lucky for me that most of the Blacks are too stuck up to ever want to be caught dancing and I was never forced to do so."

"Then maybe you can teach me that some time," although James wasn't quite sure there was a difference, he did find himself wanting to at least try. "I only know formal dancing, but I bet you learned a lot from your House-elves that is much less stiff."

"Only if you teach me how to do that ice skating thing," the bargain was completely unnecessary, but James still found himself happily shaking Sirius' hand in agreement.

"But before doing any of that, we should go down to breakfast or we will be late. After, we can open the rest of these presents and then you can begin teaching me everything you wanted to do today."

Not needing to be told twice, James quickly cleaned his torn wrappings away and shooed a laughing Sirius down so they could get started.

Ice skating brought forth no surprise as the same agility Sirius seemed to possess naturally allowed the boy to pick up on the skill easily and in no time at all they were skating together.

A few others joined them at some point, making them all laugh and have fun; ending the morning in a gigantic snowball fight.

James knew he had wicked aim, rarely missing a target as he ducked and ran to avoid being hit; teaming up with Sirius easily to take on as many opponents as possible.

It truly was a shame his friend didn't like flying, or they would have no doubt made a formidable team should they make the selection for the Quidditch Team next year.

But he kept those thoughts to himself, not wanting to press Sirius into doing something he wasn't comfortable with.

Dripping wet but pleasantly warm, they eventually made their way back to the castle to get cleaned up and James tossed one of his sweaters to Sirius as the other reappeared in a long sleeved shirt; aware the other only had one warm sweater with him.

"If you keep on dressing me in your clothes, people will talk, you know?" But Sirius did put it on immediately, snuggling into the too big fabric.

"Let them talk," grinning at him, James stretched a little. "It keeps you warm and I don't mind so it doesn't matter what they think. You are welcome to steal my clothes any time you feel like it."

"I'll keep it in mind. What else do you have planned today?"

"Not much as I figured that you would want to try and return a gift to Tiffy and Peeves?"

"I already kind of did," Sirius smiled at the warm red gloves embossed with the Gryffindor sigil now drying on the window sill.

"Enlighten me."

"Well, I've wanted to thank her for her kindness and asked Tiffy to teach me how to make cookies a few weeks ago. I made a whole batch of them yesterday, so decided to divide them to the House-elves as they are always working very hard. But I made some specific ones just for Tiffy and Peeves and left them in their rooms."

"They'll love that," not that James thought for even a single moment that either of the two wouldn't love anything Sirius did for them, but they would certainly like that. And since neither would have much use for stuff, cookies were a perfect gift.

"I hope so. I hadn't expected any presents in the first place and I am just glad I timed that surprise the way I did," looking down a little shyly, Sirius fingered the little coloured bouncing ball Peeves had given him for Christmas, letting it bounce down onto the ground between them.

While James had originally suspected a trap in waiting, he instead found the little ball simply lighted up in colours when thrown; dulling when caught.

It was a kind little gesture from the normally fairly malicious Poltergeist that he knew Sirius liked very much, but then it was much too easy to make the dark-haired Black heir happy in the first place.

James yawned and stretched once more. "Well, if we've got nothing special planned, then perhaps we could just laze around a bit and just skip lunch?"

"No objection from me there," Sirius smiled. "We could always get something from the kitchens if we get hungry before dinner."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Are you up for a game of Stratego?"

The challenge was one James was always up for and he nodded quickly. "The usual?"

Receiving a nod in return, Sirius turned to collect the game while James automatically made his way to the Common Room and claim their usual seats by the fire, quietly requesting a cup of hot chocolate for them both.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Happy New Year everyone!

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"Is there any point in time where you will tell me where you are taking me?"

As he followed Sirius up the stairs and passed their dorm to travel further up the tower, James couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.

But he didn't really expect an answer as so far his dark-haired companion had refused to answer, just telling him he would see.

"Up Gryffindor Tower."

"Up? There is no further up than the seventh year's dorm," hurrying up his steps a little to keep up, James wondered just what his friend had planned. "There is no accessing the actual top of the tower."

"There is, you just need to be able to know it is there," Sirius opened a door at the very top of the stairs that James would never have noticed and disappeared through it.

Curiosity spiked completely now, James hurried to follow him; staring around in surprise. "Wow."

They were indeed at the very top of the tower, the night's sky completely visible above them and the stars and full moon shining brightly down upon them.

"I like coming here when I can't sleep," Sirius' voice was soft and James turned to find his friend was spreading out a blanket on the ground, his bag opened beside it on the ground. "There is enough cover to not be bothered by rain but the walls don't hide any of the view."

"It's beautiful," moving to his friend's side, he sat down on the blanket and accepted the thick plaid he was handed, wrapping it around himself to fend off the cold despite the heating charms Sirius had applied to the fabrics.

Settling down next to him, Sirius spread a third plaid over them. "You said you just wanted to greet the New Year together, so I thought I would show you this place and perhaps spend it here."

"I'd like that," James untangled himself enough from his own plaid to wrap it around Sirius as well and pull him against his side. "How did you find this place?"

"Tiffy told me about it early on and Peeves showed me how to find the door."

"Does anyone else even know about this?" awed, James leaned back so that he could look at the spectacular view.

"From the layers of cobwebs originally there and the strength it took Peeves to force open the actual door, I don't think many do," Sirius leaned against James' shoulder. "Are you warm enough?"

"I am, are you?" Sirius didn't feel as cold as usual, but he still pulled the plaid a bit more tightly around his friend.

"Hmmm, there is a can of hot chocolate in the basket along with some snacks, if you'd like some."

James wiggled one hand free and magically filled two cups; hovering one over to Sirius, who took it with a laugh.

"Show off."

"Shh, I'm just too comfortable to move," he could feel the smile spread over Sirius' lips as his friend placed his cup onto the ground next to him and did the same with his own cup.

The sounds of night life moving far below them were interesting and James felt himself relax completely as they just looked at the night's sky together.

From the direction of the Great Hall, James could just barely hear the sounds of voices and he thought he could hear Professor Flitwick's high voice occasionally.

Regardless of Sirius' assurance that the detentions had been what he had wanted and been aiming for, James couldn't help but feel resentment for the man for going through with giving them.

The first detention had originally been set the day before Christmas, but Flitwick had cancelled it at the last moment; instead saying Sirius would have to serve them both in one go at noon on New Years' Day.

The entire course of events angered James and he was ready to give the Charms' teacher a piece of his mind, set on accompanying Sirius there so that he could do so.

A sudden explosion in the distance broke James out of his thoughts and he looked up to see colours and shapes suddenly travelled all through the air right before them.

"Happy New Year," Sirius whispered at his side, making him realise it were fireworks he was seeing.

"Happy New Year, where is that coming from?"

"Hogsmeade. Tiffy told me that the villagers set off magical fireworks every year and since you said you like fireworks, I figured this would be the perfect place to watch them from. Do you like it?"

"I love it, Siri," tightening his hold on Sirius momentarily to express his gratitude, James could only stare in absolute awe at the display before them. "Thank you for taking me here."

"Anything for my big brother," the laughter in Sirius' voice was mingled with affection, making James' heart sing in joy.

Looking down at the cup being pressed into his hand, James accepted the hot chocolate and raised the cup towards Sirius' own. "To a wonderful new year and may our siblingness last forever."

"A best friend slash sibling," Sirius corrected him softly, making James blink down at him surprised.

"Are you sure?"

There was no doubt in Sirius' eyes as he looked up to him with a smile. "To favourite siblings and new friendships that may last forever."

He swallowed thickly, readily leaning into the hug Sirius pulled him into. "Forever and always."

The confirmation that Sirius felt the same connection between them was one he had already had, but it still made him feel warm and affection rushed through him.

Wordlessly he smiled at his little brother as they broke the embrace, pulling him back against his side so that they could continue to watch the firework display.

"Don't forget to make a New Years wish," he whispered. "It is tradition."

Sirius nodded and as he covered them both back up with the plaids again to keep out the cold, James realised that the only New Year's blessing he could wish for was for this friendship building between them to last forever.

Eventually the firework display ended again, leaving a fog behind that was too far away to hide the clear starry night for them to look at.

"It's going to snow again soon," Sirius broke the silence after some time had passed, effectively rousing James from a light slumber.

"How can you tell?" yawning, he looked down at his friend.

"Can't you smell it?"

"No," sniffing the air didn't wield any specific smell but did leave his nose very cold. "What do you smell then?"

"I don't know, it just smells like snow again," shrugging, Sirius wiggled out of their cocoon of blankets. "And you are falling asleep so we should return inside."

Nodding his consent, James accepted the hand held out to him and let himself be pulled up, quickly helping his friend gather the plaids. "Did you use a shrinking charm on these?"

"No, an Undetectable Extension Charm. I got the idea from Remus' stories about this program he watches with his mum."

"He hasn't mentioned it to me," James admitted. "What is it about?"

"An alien time traveller who travels throughout the galaxy with a blue box that is bigger on the inside."

"Did you actually understand everything in that sentence?" biting his lip, James had to suppress a chuckle at the bemused look Sirius shot him.

"I had him explain everything in enough detail that I did understand, hence the many stories about the show," Sirius stuck out his tongue. "There are apparently many different kinds and it's the synonym for extra terrestrial."

"That doesn't really clarify it any better," James admitted.

"It's any creature that lives on another planet than our own. They are usually referred to by Muggles as Alien regardless of the species they might have. Kind of how like we refer to magical creatures when talking about the creatures in general instead of naming all kinds individually."

"Ah, and there is a whole program about it?"

"Apparently tons, Peter knew a lot about the subject and the amount of titles he threw at me in both comic and television was slightly scary, but the alien with the blue box one is the only one they both knew well," Sirius shrugged a little embarrassed. "It made me wonder if we had something like that blue box in our world as it sounded quite handy and I found the Undetectable Extension Charm. It allows you to put as much in your bag as you want, without making it heavier or showing how much is in it from the outside."

"So you applied it to your bag. Think you can teach it to me?"

"Of course," Sirius agreed readily as he folded up the blanket and tucked it into the bag without any trouble. "According to the text, you just have to ensure no one sees you putting more into it than should fit and they won't be able to detect it even when looking inside the bag themselves."

"Now you really have to teach it to me, imagine all the items we can keep hidden from Filch that way!"

Sirius only gave him a smile as he picked up his bag. "Shall we go?"

It took them no time at all to quietly make their way back to their dorm and get ready for bed and although James had intended to continue their conversation, he instead quickly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, they had breakfast rather late; but even so only a few blurry-eyed teachers were present, none of whom looked very alert.

Only Professor Flitwick looked wide awake and alarmingly cheerful as he had made his way over to their table to warn Sirius not to eat too much before his detention as the nature of it would not sit well with a full stomach.

The cheerful words had made James' hackles rise, but Sirius had effectively cut him off by given an affirmative answer before he could open his mouth.

"Don't," apparently James' expression was easy to read on his face as Sirius gave him a warning look. "I asked for this detention and will sit through whatever he has planned for me."

"In this case, he should have just cancelled it altogether since you have not actually done anything to deserve one. And any detention in which you might throw up is wrong on so many levels that I don't even know where to start."

"Physical punishment has not technically been made illegal, you know," Sirius' tone of voice was much too calmly for what he was saying in James' opinion.

"If he even dares to raise a hand at you, I'll..."

"You will what? It is an acceptable punishment according to the board."

"I can't believe such punishments would be accepted here, there must be a rule against it somewhere."

"If it makes you feel better, we could consult the rule book?" Sirius offered. "We won't be able to read it thoroughly enough in time for my detention any more, but it might be wise to know the rules regardless."

The other boy suddenly reached out and placed a hand on James', squeezing lightly. "But I think it is very unlikely Professor Flitwick would use psychical punishments as detention. He probably only meant I will have to scrub cauldrons or clean off the desks of gum, both tasks that leave many nauseous."

"It is still wrong," James muttered, not willing to admit that Sirius' reassurance helped calm his anger quite a bit. "But I am going with you either way."

"It is my detention, James."

"It's not up for debate," it took all of James' willpower not to growl and let Sirius think he was angry with him. "I am going with you and that is final."

Grey eyes stared into his own for a long moment before Sirius sighed. "If that will make you feel better, I won't try to stop you."

He glanced around the mostly deserted Great Hall and leaned forward. "On a whole different subject, I want to ask Peeves if he'd be willing to help us train."

Blinking at the clear victory, it took James a moment to register Sirius' words properly. "You truly think it is a good idea to include Peeves?"

"You haven't seen him fight," Sirius tapped his fingers onto the table. "If we want to ever have a true chance in a real fight, we will need to look beyond the standard duelling rules. Death Eaters won't be fighting by any rules, they'll just be aiming to maim and kill."

"I know, but I don't see what use Peeves would be for that."

"He uses what he can find to target people and will be able to prepare us for all sorts of attacks; making us think of unorthodox methods of defending ourselves. Just knowing a lot of spells and being able to fight like a Muggle isn't going to cut it, not when we are surrounded."

"Peeves would force us to react immediately and without time," James realises. "But will he be interested in helping us out?"

"I think he might, especially if we explain why we want his help. Training between the two of us is going well enough and we are learning new spells every day; but although our stamina is growing, we are not making much leeway in reaction time."

"Then we'll ask," running a hand through his hair, James reached out to still Sirius' fingers. "But after your detention. We will have to get going if we want to return to our dorm before making our way to Flitwick's office."

"Why do we need to return to the dorm?" but Sirius rose to his feet anyway.

"To retrieve a sweater for you. If we're going to scrub cauldrons, your cloak isn't going to be comfortable."

"I can't really keep on borrowing your clothes," Sirius protested. "And yes, I do remember that you said that you don't mind."

"Then what is the problem?" Grinning, James pulled Sirius along. "You rather like Muggle clothing, don't you?"

"Yes," Sirius admitted slowly as they made their way up to Gryffindor Tower.

"But you don't have any aside from the one sweater I outgrew and some old clothes from Remus. I don't mind if you wear anything of mine that I still fit, I have too much clothes with me as it is anyway," James grinned as he gave the password to the Fat Lady.

"But they are your clothes," Sirius protested as James began to toss clothes out of his trunk that he thought would fit his friend's smaller frame reasonably well.

"If that is the problem then I'm giving them to you," holding out a dark red sweater, James nodded. "Or I can buy you new ones if you'd prefer."

"No, I..." Sirius shifted a little hesitant. "I don't want you to buy me clothes."

"Then it is settled that you'll borrow them whenever you want."

The look of realisation on Sirius' face as he understood he had been set up was priceless and James couldn't help but grin as he pushed the sweater into his friend's hands.

"You are impossible," but Sirius did take off his cloak to put on the sweater over the long sleeved shirt he himself had outgrown and faded trousers that had originally belonged to Remus.

"You wouldn't want me to be any other way," James teasing smile faded as he saw the slight tenseness immediately relax in his friend upon wearing the fabric and he placed his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Why do you argue with me when I can clearly see you get comfort from wearing my clothes?"

"I...I don't want to take advantage of you," Sirius muttered softly, looking down.

"You don't. I am offering them," reaching out to raise Sirius' chin, he forced his friend to look at him. "You are my brother and if you had any flesh on your body that would allow me to fit into your clothes, I might've stolen them at times, too."

"Really?" the expression in those warm grey eyes was much too unsure for James' tastes, but he decided against calling him out on it and simply nodded and let a teasing smile spread over his lips as he poked Sirius' side.

"Really, but that just means I have to do my best to fatten you up as you are much too skinny," he revelled in the laughter that escaped his friend, knowing he had effectively broken the uncertainty that had taken residence in Sirius' mind once more.

Wrapping an arm around Sirius, he smiled as the other leaned into his embrace before slipping a hand in his.

"We should go or we will be late."

Immediately James' good mood vaporised and he grumbled, but let Sirius pull him along.

In comfortable silence they made their way to Professor Flitwick's office and Sirius knocked.

Almost immediately the door opened and Professor Flitwick opened with a smile, not looking the least bit surprised to see James with Sirius.

"Ah, good...good. I hope neither of you ate too much or we will be having a severe problem."

They walked into the office and James' intended objections to the detention died in his throat as he took in the sight before him.

There was a banquet of healthy and sugary sweets laid out on a long table before them, more than one man could possibly ever eat.

"Professor?" Sirius seemed as lost as he was, half turning to look at their teacher.

"Yes, I suppose you would like to know the rules of your detention," Professor Flitwick didn't seem to notice their confusion. "You will have to remain here until four for your double detention, doing various tasks to keep me company and are not allowed to leave before this table is emptied."

"Sir?"

"Are you challenging my authority, Mister Potter? I suppose you will just have to share this detention with Sirius for that," Professor Flitwick sounded stern, but there was an unmistakable twinkle in his eyes. "Now sit down and get to work."

"I...yes, sir."

Bewildered, they both sat down on one side of the table while Professor Flitwick sat down on the other side.

"I think we will have to start with a mind game. I just received this from a friend of mine and although it is originally meant for two people, the two of you may work together to beat me."

James could only stare as their teacher pulled out a small game and began setting it up in the only empty place on the table. "It is called Master Mind and your first task will be defeating me at least three times before I will have to do the same in reverse."

It seemed almost automatically that Sirius listened to the rules Professor Flitwick laid out for them and began playing, occasionally pausing to accept any food the Professor pointed out to him and James.

It was a detention unlike anything James had ever heard of and once their bewilderment died down, they had a lot of fun playing all sorts of Muggle and Magical games the Professor challenged them to.

The man's words of not eating too much took on a whole different meaning as they tried all kinds of Muggle food, Sirius predictably leaning more towards the healthy ones while James almost exclusively picked out sweets.

The Professor joked around with them and tested their Charms knowledge at random intervals and James' opinion of the man rose to new heights when Professor Flitwick shushed them with a wink upon their leaving, making it clear that this form of detention wouldn't be appreciated by the other teachers so they both vowed to keep quiet.

The whole thing had made the Charms teacher into James' new favourite teacher; especially since he knew most of them still made Sirius quite nervous and the man had not only managed to make Sirius laugh, he had actually managed to let him relax.

Both of them carried a package with the last remains of the banquet, the Professor having made good on his threat to not let them leave before the table was empty and James felt incredibly full despite the more than decent package he was carrying.

"Still mad at the Professor?" Sirius teased softly as they had returned to the dorm, placing the packages on the table.

"I'm too full to be mad at anyone," James huffed out, kicking off his shoes and letting himself fall backwards onto his bed. "I think I ate too much."

"I think the Professor was trying to fatten us both up," Sirius chuckled, sitting down beside him and toeing his own shoes off as well.

"I think he succeeded," James stretched out lazily. "Think we could wait for a while before searching out Peeves?"

"I agree. All I want right now is to take a nap."

"That might just be the best idea I've heard all day," reaching out to pull Sirius down beside him, he pulled him close.

"Hmmm," Sirius nuzzled close. "Should we set an alarm?"

"If we're up too late for dinner we can just go to the kitchen for something to eat."

Sirius clearly agreed as he fell silent, making no sound as James toed the comforter into reach to pull it up over them before letting sleep claim him as well.


End file.
